apnea
by Faulty Paragon
Summary: Qrow may have been a bad luck charm, and he'd disappointed almost every single other person in his life thus far- but he'd be damned if he would ever let Ruby or Yang down. Set in early Vol. 4.


A/N: Here's something very random that's been sitting on my ideas doc for over 1.5 years. I figured I should finally write it and get it over with. It's... dicey. Originally based on a dream I had once.

Let me know what you think!

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apnea

He let his guard down.

He had just been walking down the dirt path, surrounded by trees- but he hadn't felt anything coming up around him. Yet, here he was, one hand on Harbinger's hilt as he watched the entire world around him cover itself in shadow, the formerly peaceful scene now swallowed up into nothing but darkness. Every last ray of Mistralian light was swallowed, consumed whole, leaving behind only the menacing blackness which could contain anything.

He wasn't ready.

He breathed in, out- trying to calm his heart, ease his troubles before they began. This could just be a new type of Grimm, and if he didn't calm down, he'd just be bait for them. In the darkness, it was impossible to make out anything- what was even capable of creating such a void?!

He didn't know where he was, but it was alright. He had made it out of worse situations, after all.

"It can't be a Grimm," he muttered aloud, wandering through the shadows gingerly. He projected his Aura outwards, using his power to see what his eyes couldn't. Unfortunately, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't see anything- no people, no Grimm… no buildings, no trees… just… nothing.

And then, the floor gave way under him, and he fell into nothingness.

Immediately, he shifted into his crow form, flying upwards out of the pit he seemed to be drawn into. No matter how much he flapped his wings, however, the ground above never emerged, and he continued his descent. Gravity pulled him downwards into this never-ending pit, and he transformed back into his human form- if he couldn't fly, he may as well stick the landing.

He didn't get even a breath to think of where the pit might lead. A familiar voice cried out helplessly below him, and instinctively, he flipped to see its source. Sure enough, a flash of red was plummeting far below him, pale face the only source of light in the otherwise empty world.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby shrieked, reaching out a tiny hand to grab hold of him. How did she get here? Her makeshift team had been at least a mile ahead of him- where were her friends?

As he fell, he squinted to see her. Her body was limp, falling like a ragdoll through the empty space. Why wasn't she righting herself? He had trained her so that she could get out of worse situations than this! All she needed was Crescent Rose-

The scythe was nowhere to be seen.

His breathing stopped, air stuck still in his lungs as a cold sweat broke out over his entire body. _No, no, no no no __**no!**_

_I have to get to her._

Immediately, he streamlined his body, urging himself to go faster and faster. His hand automatically reached behind his waist to grab hold of Harbinger, to help propel him further… but his scythe wasn't there, either.

_What is going on?!_

All he could do was watch as the girl fell, terrified screams echoing through the endless pit, silver eyes streaming with tears, shining beacons of her fear. He tried his very best, willing himself to go faster- but the girl was quite a distance away from him horizontally as well, and there was absolutely no way he'd be able to reach her in his state. There was just no way.

_Ruby, hold on, please._

But then, shadows clouded his vision, and the next thing he knew, his whole world came crashing up to meet him. He had landed on flat ground- _hard. _Wincing, he crawled back to his knees, rubbing his side where he had landed. His ears rang, body sore and aching from the impact. Warmth trickled down from his nose, and he tasted coppery blood on his tongue, trailing into his mouth. Thankfully, his Aura would heal it, so he didn't pay it any mind.

Yet, when he finally got to his feet, the blood continued.

He frowned, spitting out the blood and wiping the nosebleed on the back of his hand. Apparently, there was something about this creature hiding in the shadows that could suppress his Aura? _But, I've never seen something like that…_

_…unless if Salem has made something even worse than the Grimm._

The thought sent a chill up his spine. There was… there was no way, right?

Suddenly, he snapped back to attention. There was something more important at hand. "Ruby!" He shook the dizziness away, stepping forward. He needed to find her. Had she landed nearby?

However, in just a few strides, his foot met no resistance. Instead, he teetered upon an invisible ledge, barely able to maintain his balance. The sudden drop in front of him was jarring. Only after righting himself did he let himself look inside the hole in front of him.

It was a drop of at least fifty metres from his current ledge. And, lit up by some unknown source, was the crumpled body of a young girl, lying still on the ground below, red spread out around her.

"No," he breathed.

The red wasn't her cape- it was her blood.

Instantly, he froze. Her body wasn't the only one down there. His eyes trailed around the pit, finding familiar figures lying, disfigured, everywhere.

_Glynda… James…_

He froze. _Oz?_

Even all of Ruby's friends. They were… all gone.

He finally allowed himself to succumb to his emotions. A guttural scream tore out of his throat, and as his breath died, the scent hit him all at once. He doubled over and vomited the empty contents of his stomach onto the floor.

He had been the only one to land on the platform. How? What kind of a sick joke was this? That wasn't the point of his Semblance, that wasn't-

Ruby's body seemed to radiate light, and his eyes kept getting drawn back towards it. She was his _light. _She was the reason he kept fighting. But now… she was _so small. _

_What have I done?_

"Ruby!"

Qrow lifting his head up, blurry eyes unfocused. All he saw was shining gold through the haze of tears, but he knew who it was. She stood on a similar ledge on the other side of the hole. How she was here, he didn't know- she was supposed to be in Patch, why was this _happening- _but he didn't care. He just needed her to be safe. He couldn't lose them both. "Yang- Yang, kiddo, come here," he gasped, reaching out to her, beckoning. He tried to pull himself up to his feet, but his legs had given way.

She didn't respond.

His waving grew more frantic. "Yang, please, don't look-" he begged, but the girl's eyes didn't turn away from the pit. "Yang, _please, come here!_"

"Qrow… Ruby…" Yang breathed, gaze flitting between her uncle and the carnage before her. She finally seemed to snap back into reality, raising her right hand. "Ruby, please say something-"

Sinking dread filled Qrow's gut, gripping it like a vice, and he almost gagged. _Her hand. It's… there?_ "Yang, get away from her dammit!"

It was like his words brought Yang back to life. She suddenly sprinted forward, hand outstretched. "_Ruby!" _she screeched, beautiful face twisting into pain and rage and horror, eyes flashing red. She propelled herself forward using Ember Celica, trying to reach her younger sister faster. Her footsteps were swallowed by the darkness, by the sound of her haggard cries as she sobbed her way forward. Finally, though, she reached the edge by the pit, extending her hand outwards once more as she made her way to jump down into the gaping maw of the beast-

And then, a light flashed. Qrow scrambled to his feet, reaching out to the girl- but before he could say anything, even attempt to leap over the gap and pull back his niece, Yang let out an ear-splitting scream, collapsing back onto the ledge across from him.

Her right arm was gone. The wound wasn't bleeding, for whatever reason- instead, it was just… black. Black, smoke rising hazily from it… as if inside her skin, there was a Grimm.

Qrow almost vomited again, the rancid scent of the creatures of Grimm hitting him faster than he could brace himself for. He didn't care. He needed to take care of her.

Her face was ashen, eyes flickering between red and lilac, breaths stuttering into her lungs as she desperately tried to process what was going on. The attack had been swift, the blade responsible for ripping away her limb hidden in the shadows. Qrow couldn't even see the blade strike.

"Yang!" he cried, transforming into his avian form again to fly over, suddenly feeling a surge of energy course through him. Flapping his wings even harder, he glided towards her as quickly as possible, keeping his eyes trained away from the gory pit below. The moment he drew close enough to Yang's side, he turned himself back into a human, catapulting himself to his niece. His arms wrapped around her trembling torso before his feet even touched the ground, and he immediately drew her into his chest, holding her tight. "Yang, it's alright, you're going to be alright," he whispered, clutching her close. What was happening? What kind of Grimm could be responsible for this?

Why couldn't he save her?

As he stroked her hair, he felt her shift in his arms. He released her momentarily, pulling away to meet her eyes. "Kid, we gotta get you out of here," he choked out. His words died in his throat, though, as he saw how her eyes fixated behind him- onto Ruby's corpse. "Yang, don't look-" he pleaded, but Yang didn't reply.

Instead, the girl raised her remaining arm, staring at the hand blankly. "I couldn't save her," she breathed.

"It's not your fault, Yang," Qrow whispered, shaking her shoulders. "C'mon, we've gotta treat your wounds-"

"I couldn't save her."

And with that, Qrow could only blink on reflex, feeling blood splatter onto his face- hot, scalding, trailing down his gaunt cheeks, staining his grey blazer- as Yang closed her fist to point at her own face, triggering Ember Celica's gunfire point-blank through her own skull.

He kept his eyes closed. With a shaking hand, he reached up her shoulder, to her neck, ready to cup her cheek. All his fingers met was wet flesh, rivers of blood pouring over his hands, the scent of Grimm and iron invading his nostrils. Silently, he bit back the bile, laying Yang's body down on the ground. He pressed his forehead against her stomach, letting a horrendous roar of grief and pain and disbelief rip through his lips.

_What… what do I do now?_

Suddenly, a blow to the head knocked him away from Yang. Before he could right himself, a strong hand grabbed his collar and hoisted him to his feet, lifting him a few inches off the ground. He gaped at the newcomer, the guilt and grief crashing over him anew as he saw his best friend's eyes, reddened and swollen and so _broken._

"Why didn't you save them? You let my little girls _die, _Qrow!" A fist landed on his cheek. Qrow didn't move to evade. The blond was right.

Tai's face was hollow. "I can't believe you, Qrow," he whimpered. "I let them go because of _you. _You told me you'd protect them. You told me you'd keep my little girls safe. But why can't I ever count on you?!" And the man stepped back, farther and farther, until his feet slipped past the ledge and he went plummeting into the pit below, leaving Qrow broken and grasping for air where his best friend had been.

He knew what was happening, now. This couldn't be reality. This… this was nothing more than a nightmare. It… couldn't be real.

But god, if it was just a dream, he didn't know how to escape it, either.

Qrow was helpless, the realization somehow making him feel even weaker.

In Tai's place, the very air itself seemed to rip open. Energy began to glow and drip from the tear in space, the colour of congealing blood dripping down the swirling vortex within. Qrow gulped, tottering back to his feet. "Rae-"

The woman stepped out of the portal, clothes just as red and dark as always- however, in the shadows, the tint of her robes seemed to pulsate, glow. Her Grimm mask was the only piece which showed any kind of light in this obsidian world, and even that was painted in crimson evil and shadows. He shuddered, seeing the feathers she had attached to her dress and mask sway with every step.

But then, reality struck, and he followed her gaze over to the bloodied heap still sitting in the adjacent platform. Yang's clothes were no longer yellow. Majority of her vibrancy was stained with her blood.

"You're the one who did this, little brother," Raven scoffed coldly. She still didn't remove her mask. "You said you could protect everyone. Yet again, you didn't." She raised her blade, pressing it against his cheek, and he flinched as the tip sliced through his skin. "You told me you'd protect my daughter. My, my- you can't even do that, hm?"

"Don't tell me that, Rae-" he attempted, but his sister opened a portal and walked away. Where the portal went, Qrow didn't know.

"You could've saved me, Qrow."

That was the final straw. He spun around, seeing the familiar woman's face peering up at him brokenly from under her white hood. She was so beautiful, the silver eyes shining with tears as she spoke. "If only you had come with me for that mission- we could've made it, Qrow. I could've made it. But you weren't there. And now, you're letting Ruby and Yang down, too?" As she spoke, red began to trail down her forehead, painting her pale skin with vermillion blood, the liquid seeping into her cape. It was so red.

"But… Summer-"

Blood entered her eyes, and she blinked, slow, lazy. Then, she disappeared, and the sound of Grimm-like roars began to echo through the darkness.

And then, he was sitting upright, mouth open in a soundless scream. The light streamed gently through the cozy white curtains hanging around the wide window of his bedroom at the local inn, sheets soft and inviting where they weren't soaked by sweat. His left hand had automatically reached out and grabbed hold of Harbinger, the cold hilt of his weapon bringing him back to reality.

He was safe. The girls were safe. Nothing had happened.

As his breathing calmed down, eyes darting around the room finally assessing that there were no real dangers present, he could only run his fingers through his greying hair and shudder. It had been far too real a dream. Every part of his body was tense, and relaxing each muscle individually would be too arduous of a task. His body was drenched in sweat, heart pounding even as he stood and pulled on his clothes.

By the time he was washing his face and getting ready to head out, he was completely numb to the horrors he had witnessed in his dreams. It wasn't the first time he had seen visions of violence and pain in his nightmares, and it wouldn't be the last. He was numb to it now.

He nicked himself with his razor. He didn't react. His Aura would heal the wound. He was right.

…this is why he hated sleeping alone.

"So, you're heading out?" the attractive girl working at the inn's counter murmured, leaning low, exposing her well-endowed cleavage. "You sure you don't wanna hang around here for a while? We could always," and she glanced down, teeth biting a plump lower lip invitingly before large, hooded eyes flicked back up to meet his, "use a Huntsman around here."

Qrow grimaced internally at the oily, slimy taste in his mouth, disgust and self-loathing growing in his stomach. Instead of vocalizing his discomfort, though, he bit it all back, winking at the girl as he suavely handed her the keys, allowing his fingers to brush against hers ever-so-slightly. "If only," he purred. "But I've got places to be. And," he stretched, heading to the door, "you don't really want me around." With that, he stepped out of the inn, breathing in the early morning air. The kiddos would be leaving the town soon. He needed to be perched outside, ready to defend them on their journey.

_If only Ruby knew… _The amount of Grimm he had dispatched over the past few weeks, trailing behind Ruby and her friends, was unbelievable. Salem was on her trail. His little niece wasn't safe. It was his job to ensure that she was safe and sound. He needed to be ready.

If he couldn't protect her, then what good was he?

He knew that his presence had caused far too many calamities in the lives of the people he loved. With how much time he spent with the girls, it wasn't farfetched to imagine that his nieces would one day suffer at his hands, thanks to his existence.

He grimaced, clenching his fist. Without a word, he pulled his Aura upwards throughout his body, triggering his transformation. In the blink of an eye, he was avian, the corvid flying off into the distance.

_Like hell I'll let that happen. They'll never suffer like that, not if I can help it. _

Because Qrow may have been a bad luck charm, and he'd disappointed almost every single other person in his life thus far- but he'd be _damned _if he would ever let Ruby or Yang down.


End file.
